Ministerial resignations accepted

New Delhi: Ahead of the cabinet reshuffle, the resignation of seven ministers, including S M Krishna, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, has been accepted. The President, as advised by the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignations of the seven members of the Union Council of Ministers with immediate effect, a Rashtrapati Bhawan release said.

While Soni, Wasnik and Subodh Kant Sahai resigned as Cabinet ministers and Mahadeve Singh Khandela as Minister of State in the morning, Ministers of State Agatha Sangma and Vincent Pala resigned in the evening. Krishna had resigned as Minister of External Affairs yesterday.

Agatha had to resign on the party's directives after she campaigned for her father P A Sangma during the Presidential election in July, which he contested in defiance of NCP. Like Agatha, Pala also belongs to Meghalaya. However, he is a Congress MP.